Match: Cruz Azul vs Tijuana Xolos

Where: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, Mexico City

When: Saturday, November 30, 2024

Time: 5:10 PM PST

TV: Univision, TUDN, VIX

The Tijuana Xolos will face Cruz Azul in the second leg of this quarterfinal on Saturday November 30th in Mexico City.

The first game of this series ended in a shocking 3-0 win for the Border City Dogs in a game where Cruz Azul was heavily favored.

That massive three-goal lead now matters as Cruz Azul would need to win this game by a margin of three goals or more to advance. This seems like an almost impossible task, but La Maquina defeated Xolos 3-0 in the regular season. Club Tijuana is far better at home than away, but they don’t need to win this game to advance.

Raul Zuniga, Efrain Alvarez and Emmanuel Reynoso scored the goals in the first leg that led to this huge victory. Coach Juan Carlos Osorio has been experimental all season and has continued to do so in the playoffs. In the first leg, defenders Unai Bilbao and Rafael Fernandez played as strikers at times.

Alejandro Gomez played at left-back against Cruz Azul and was in midfield in the previous game against Atlas. Osorio believes in using his entire squad and rotating players in different positions on the field.

These tactics have proven to be very effective for Club Tijuana in this playoff run, and it will be interesting to see Xolos’ lineup in this game. Raul Zuniga is clearly the Xoloitzcuintles’ standout player with four goals scored this postseason.

Cruz Azul had the best offense in the Liga MX regular season with 39 goals scored and will need the attack to step up in this game. Cruz Azul had 27 percent possession and no shots on goal in the first leg at the Estadio Caliente and that needs to change in this second leg. Jorge Sanchez’s red card certainly played a role in the team’s poor offensive performance Los Celestes and he will not be available for this game.

It will be interesting to see how Martin Anselmi sets up his team as Cruz Azul will need to be aggressive from the gate. Los Cementeros Additionally, the defense will need to be near perfect, as a goal from Xolos means the home team will need at least four goals to advance.

Club Tijuana has prepared everything to reach the semi-finals in the first leg and if it were any other team in the league, the confidence would probably be 100 percent. However, this Cruz Azul team proved to be the best in the regular season and certainly has the ability to score the goals they need.

Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan my entire life and did most of the series previews and recaps of the 2016 Padres season for EVT. Now I’m concentrating more on the local football scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.

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